Please Need Me
by Strawberry-GAME
Summary: WARNING: OC coupling with character!- Dante never believed that a beautiful woman would just walk into his life... And yet, it happened somehow... Just not really the way he suspected
1. Chapter 1

She smoothed out her coat and skirt, pacing around the corner, running her hands through her hair where her ears had been. Her stomach felt very light and fluttery.

"You've passed by every day. It's time to just do it!"

Dante stood turned towards the window, waiting for her to pass by. She had passed by every day for the past two weeks, and Dante always made sure to catch her when she did. He ignored the bell when someone came in, they could figure out what they needed. His face softened anxiously, his eyes searching for her. He heard a woman clear her throat at the counter. He sighed and turned, lowering his head. When he added up the price he looked up expectantly. His words nearly caught in his throat when he saw her.

A gorgeous 35-year-old woman stood before him. Her hair was a deep coal color; wavy and spilling down her back. Her eyes were a dark yellowish-amber, framed perfectly by dark, thick lashes. Her face was oval-shaped with a small chin, a round nose, and very plump lips. At the moment her cheeks were a little flushed from outside, making all the more desirable. For a moment, Dante felt himself staring. He lowered his head and told her the price.

As she fished her wallet out of her small purse, she said, "I'm so glad you guys are open, I _sooo _needed my fix."

He looked at her purchase and raised an eyebrow.

"Fix on what, the energy bar or the milk?"

She giggled, he felt his heart pick up speed.

"The milk, I can't start my morning without it."

She handed him the money.

He nodded, "I completely understand." he said sarcastically

She smiled as he gave her the receipt, their eyes meeting for a split second. He flushed. She gathered her things.

"Thanks a lot " she glanced at his name tag, "Dante."

"Have a nice day." he said wistfully

She smiled, "You too."

And then she was gone.

Dante glanced up at the window for what seemed to be the gazillionth time.

"No customers, Randal almost set the store on fire again, and it's 5:30… This is what I get minimum wage for."

He sighed and dropped his head on the counter. A small chime brought him up.

"Hey Dante." she said cheerfully

He smiled, "Can I help you?"

"Nah," she waved dismissively, "I got it."

She grabbed her pint of milk and energy bar, humming to herself.

She set the items down on the counter, "By the way, my name's Stephanie."

He nodded robotically, repeating her name in his head to remember.

"So," she grinned, "how's work treatin' ya?"

He simpered sarcastically, "Great! I love waking up at 4 in the morning to come to work." she handed him money, "Especially when I'm not even supposed to be here!"

She chuckled, "Sorry to hear it man."

He handed her her things in a small bag, "It's alright, I don't mind so much now."

She glanced up to see him smile at her flirtatiously. A small, pleased smile appeared while her face flushed.

"W-Well… Have a nice day." she squeaked as she headed for the door

"You too!" he called

For the rest of the day he would be grinning to himself and treating his customers a tiny bit better. Even Randal couldn't seem to get to him.

(a few days later)

"What're you doing here so early?"

Dante raised his head from the counter to watch Randal waltz in the door.

"I could ask you the same thing." he said tiredly

"I open."

Dante gave Randal his trademark annoyed look, "No you don't. It's 4 in the morning, you're never up this early."

"Wrong. I am today." Randal smiled

"But the video store isn't supposed to open for another 4 hours."

"Today it opens 4 hours early."

Dante sighed, "Okay, why are you here?"

Randal shrugged, "To bug you. Why else would I be up at this God-awful hour?"

Dante went to say 'No, seriously', but cut it short when Stephanie walked in.

He smiled, "Hey Stephanie."

She returned it energetically, "Hey Dante."

Randal turned to Dante and waggled his eyebrows.

Dante frowned, "Leave. Now."

Randal put up his hands, grinned suggestively and walked out the door.

Stephanie turned from the milk and furrowed her eyebrows, "Me?"

Dante turned to her, his eyes brightening, "No, no! My idiot friend that just left!"

"Oh."

She brought over her morning norm.

"Is this all you have for breakfast everyday?" he asked earnestly

She blinked innocently, "Whadd'ya mean?"

"Nothing. It just doesn't seem extremely healthy."

She turned around and looked around the store. He heard a sharp intake of breath before she pranced over to an isle. She came back with a pack of Altoids in hand. Dante roared with laughter.

"That's not exactly what I meant." he chuckled when he was done

She smiled and shrugged, "It's more in my stomach."

He laughed again, "Oh yeah, I forgot how filling Altoids are."

She giggled, "I always thought so."

She handed him money. Dante went to say something smart but was interrupted by the chime of the door.

"So I have a question for Stephanie here."

Dante winced at Randal's voice.

"Please go away." Dante said quietly

Randal ignored him, "Are you gonna go out with him or what?"

Dante's eyes opened wide. Stephanie flushed, a small nervous smile creeping on her face.

"W-Wh-" she stammered, "What?"

"Do you want to have a date with this fine specimen?" Randal said in a show-announcer's voice, gesturing to Dante in a flashy way

Dante felt heat rush to his face. Stephanie looked at him and relaxed, the smile on her face widening.

"Yeah," she tilted her head admiringly, "I do, actually."

She winked at Dante and brushed past Randal, quietly slipping out the door.

Dante stood staring at the door, his mouth agape. Randal nudged him with his elbow, chuckling and grinning suggestively.

Dante shook out of his daze, "Did that really just happen?"

"Yep." Randal nudged Dante again, "And all thanks to your amazing friend Randal."

Dante elbowed him and grinned, "Don't get ahead of yourself there champ."

Randal shrugged as he headed for the door, "Say whatever you want, but whatever happens know that you have me to thank for it."

Dante rolled his eyes.


	2. Chapter 2

The next day Stephanie strolled in, whistling quietly to herself. Dante immediately brightened when he saw her, straightening his back to peer over the isles.

She came back with her usual, "Hey Dante."

"Hey Stephanie." he said timidly

She smiled and began unzipping her purse, "So… was Randal serious about that date?"

Dante looked up at her hopefully, "I think so…"

Stephanie's smile widened, "Well, I would really like that…" she handed him her money and pulled out a paper and pen, "I'll give you my number."

His face was rather blank with shock as he put her purchase in a bag.

She scribbled down the numbers and handed it to him, "Here. That's the number you can _always_ reach me at."

He looked at it like a fragile treasure, "Thanks…"

"My pleasure…" she said suggestively

Dante felt his loin tighten.

_She wrapped her arms around her neck and pressed herself to him._

"_I love you." Dante blurted_

_Heat rushed his face._

'Shit,' he thought, 'she's gonna think I'm crazy now.'

_"I love you too." She said seductively_

_Before he could react she pressed her lips to his and brought his hand up to her breast. Her other hand reached down, unzipping his pants. She reached into his underwear and wrapped her hand around-_

Dante bolted upright in his bed, panting.

"What the hell-?"

Dante sat with his head down on the counter, drifting somewhere between sleep and a daze. Earlier, he had woken from his dream an hour before he was supposed to get up, but he found that whenever he would be right on the brink of sleep again, he would see the image of her looking at him through her lashes with her lips slightly parted, her cheeks flushed and he would jerk awake again.

He was just beginning to drool when he heard the door chime.

"Hey Dante!" she said in her usual cheery call

"Hey Stephanie." He said tiredly

She came to the counter with her milk and energy bar, "You okay?" she asked worriedly

"Yeah." He said as she handed him the money, "Just tired. Woke up too early on accident."

"Oh." She said sympathetically, "I'm sorry. How come?"

He cleared his throat, "A dream…"

She tilted her head questioningly.

"Never mind." He handed her the bag and receipt, "Have a good day."

She smiled, "You too."

She was just about to walk out when she stopped and turned to him.

"I'm _really_ glad that you said yes to a date Dante, and I can't wait."

Then she was gone.

That night, Dante sat on his bed, staring nervously at his phone.

"Just do it." He said quietly, "She said she wants you to."

He picked it up off the cradle and dialed her number. After a few seconds of him sitting and sweating while his heart hammered, she picked up.

"_Hello?"_

"Hey, Stephanie?"

"_That's me."_

"It's Dante." His voice cracked a little

"_Oh hey Dante! I'm so glad you called, I was getting a little nervous." _She giggled, _"What's up?"_

"Well," he took a breath, "I wanted to ask what you wanted to do for our date."

"_Ah, I see…" _she paused,_ "I don't really know, I rarely go on dates so… I honestly have no idea!"_ she laughed

Dante's eyes opened wide, "You're shitting me."

Stephanie giggled again, _"Why so surprised?"_

He blushed, "Well… I don't know, I just find that really hard to believe."

"_Whadd'ya mean?"_

A small smile crept on his face, "Well, I mean… I think you're really pretty and sweet… and smart and funny."

She chuckled.

"That's usually enough for guys to be all over a girl."

"_That's really sweet of you to say Dante. But that doesn't necessarily mean that I go out with all those guys."_

He sat up straighter, "Oh no! I didn't mean to offend you! I was just saying-"

"_It's okay,"_ she said soothingly,_ "I got what you meant, I was just explaining how come I'm pretty ignorant on this subject."_

"Ah." He said smartly

"_What about you?"_ she asked softly, _"Did you have any ideas?"_

He flushed, "Umm… not exactly… I haven't really been on that many dates either…"

This time she was surprised, _"Wow, really? I can't believe that!"_

He rolled his eyes, "What makes you say that?"

"_Well…"_ he heard her clear her throat, _"It's just… I don't know. I mean,"_ her voice got softer, _"I guess I'm so attracted to you that I find it hard to believe that a guy like you wouldn't go out with a bunch of women."_

"Really?" he felt his heart pick up speed

"_Well… yeah." _She chuckled nervously, which made his heart beat faster, _"I… I really like you Dante…"_

He smiled, "…I really like you too Stephanie."

They were both silent for a moment.

"_So what're we gonna do about the date?"_

He scratched his head thoughtfully, "I honestly don't know…"

She laughed, Dante felt himself go a little weak.

"_Well," _she said,_ "What do you like to do normally?"_

He thought for a second, "Laze around. What about you?"

"_On my days off? The same."_

He laughed.

"_I have an idea!"_

"What?"

"_How about we do a movie or something." _She said, _"I'll come to your house and we can watch a movie and veg out."_

He looked around his room, "I don't know. My house is really messy, you probably don't wanna come over here."

She chuckled, _"You're talking to the wrong girl Dante. My house probably looks worse than yours."_

He raised an eyebrow, "I very highly doubt that."

"_Perfect, then I'll come over to evaluate and judge whose is messier."_

Dante bit his lip, "Isn't going to a guy's house something you do _after_ the first few dates?"

"_How would you know?" _he could practically hear her smiling through the phone, _"I thought you said you haven't been on very many dates."_

"Yeah, well-" he sputtered, "I'm just sayin-"

"_That you don't want me coming over?"_ she said softly

"No! No! Its just…" he sighed, "I don't know, I just don't want to ruin things by losing control…"

He immediately flushed when he realized what he had just said. There was silence on her end. He put his head in his hand.

"_Dante?"_

"Yeah?"

"_Don't worry about it." _She said comfortingly, _"Whatever happens happens." _She giggled, _"Besides, I think it's going to take something drastic for me to get mad at you."_

He smiled.

"_So…" _she paused, _"Is it a date?"_

He held the phone in both hands, silently thanking her for being so cool, "Yeah," he said softly, " sounds good."

"_Great!"_ she said happily, _"When do you wanna do it?"_

"Umm…" he looked at his calendar, "I would say tomorrow? Nine o' clock? So it can be the typical Friday night."

"_M'kay! Sounds perfect!"_ then she said suggestively, _"I'm sure we'll have a _great _time."_

Dante felt his loin tighten, "Yeah." He smiled, "I guess I'll see you tomorrow."

"_Yep! Bye Dante."_

"Bye Stephanie."

"_Sweet dreams when you get there!"_

He grinned, "You too."

Then there was a click. Dante sighed and lay back onto his bed, a broad grin across his face.


End file.
